Edirne Ipsala, December 2 - Neftegaz.RU. The opening of the European connection of the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), the major segment of the Southern Gas Corridor, was held at MS4, TANAP measurement point in Turkey.
The ceremony hosted by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and honored by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, was attended by prime minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia, ministers of Turkey, Northern Macedonia, Qatar and Bulgaria, high-level officials of Italy, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and the European Union, SOCAR President and TANAP Chairman Rovnag Abdullayev, senior managers of BP and BOTAŞ - project partners, as well as representatives of the energy sector from the Southern Gas Corridor member-countries.
Rovnag Abdullayev addressed the meeting: “Last year we launched the 1st phase of the Southern Gas Corridor and its major segment - TANAP. Today TANAP is fully ready to deliver natural gas to Europe. The construction of this historic infrastructure extended from the East to the West throughout Turkey was finished within time and to a high standard. On completion of the construction of TAP, which will be connected with TANAP at the Turkish-Greek border, Azerbaijani gas will be transported directly from the Caspian basin to European markets for the 1st time in history. We look forward to becoming not only Europe’s gas supplier, but the 2nd biggest gas supplier to Turkey.”
In the context of commercial operations, TANAP has transported 3.3 billion cu m of gas to BOTAŞ since November 18, 2019 and is expected to deliver 4 billion cu m to Turkey between June, 2019 and June 2020. Turkey will receive 6 billion cu m a year from the end of June 2020. Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to European markets from next year and reach 16 billion cu m transportation capacity, 10 billion cu mof which will be exported to Europe from 2020. TANAP’s capacity is expected to rise to 31 billion cu m with/after the additional investments.
